The field of the invention relates to fire detection devices and more particularly to smoke detectors.
Smoke detectors are known. Such devices are typically mounted in various locations around houses and apartment buildings to provide advance warning in the event of fire.
Smoke detectors are often battery powered, but may also be supplied from the wiring of a house. Where supplied from house wiring, a battery backup is still used to ensure proper operation of the smoke detector in the event a fire interrupts power to the smoke detector.
The term xe2x80x9csmoke detectorxe2x80x9d may refer to any of a number of detector technologies that, in fact, may not be based upon the detection of smoke at all. For example, some detectors may detect the presence of carbon monoxide instead of smoke.
To enhance the effectiveness of smoke detection, smoke detectors are usually equipped with a relatively loud audible alarm. Further, since smoke may not penetrate all areas of a building, smoke detectors may need to be located in numerous locations for adequate protection of occupants.
To further enhance protection in large buildings, a separate alarm wire is often provided as an interconnection among smoke detectors. The interconnecting alarm wire is typically provided to trigger the alarms in all smoke detectors as part of an alarm system in the event that a fire is detected by any one smoke detector.
While the interconnection of prior art smoke detectors to form alarm systems works well, such systems are often expensive to install. Because of the importance of fire detection, a need exists for a better method of triggering alarms.
A method and apparatus are provided for activating smoke detector alarms within a house. The method includes the steps of providing a plurality of smoke detectors dispersed among a plurality of locations within the house, detecting smoke within a first smoke detector of the plurality of smoke detectors, transmitting a radio frequency signal from the first smoke detector to a second smoke detector of the plurality of smoke detectors upon detection of smoke by the first smoke detector and activating an alarm within the second smoke detector upon detection of the radio frequency signal from the first smoke detector.